The Current Opinion journals were developed out of the recognition that it is increasingly difficult for specialists to keep up to date with the expanding volume of information published in their subject. Elsevier’s Current Opinion journals comprise of 13 leading titles in life sciences and adjacent fields.

Current Opinion in Pharmacology

IMPACT FACTOR: 6.817
5-Year Impact Factor: 6.734
Issues per year: 6 issues
Editorial Board

Current Opinion in Pharmacology

The Current Opinion journals were developed out of the recognition that it is increasingly difficult for specialists to keep up to date with the expanding volume of information published in their subject. In Current Opinion in Pharmacology, we help the reader by providing in a systematic manner:
1. The views of experts on current advances in pharmacology in a clear and readable form.
2. Evaluations of the most interesting papers, annotated by experts, from the great wealth of original publications

Division of the subject into sections
The subject of pharmacology is divided into themed sections, each of which is reviewed once a year. The amount of space devoted to each section is related to its importance.

Neurosciences • Cardiovascular and renal • Respiratory • Musculoskeletal • Cancer • Immunomodulation • Anti-infectives • New technologies • Gastrointestinal • Endocrine and metabolic diseases

Selection of topics to be reviewed
Section Editors, who are major authorities in the field, are appointed by the Editors of the journal. They divide their section into a number of topics, ensuring that the field is comprehensively covered and that all issues of current importance are emphasised. Section Editors commission reviews from authorities on each topic that they have selected.

Reviews
Authors write short review articles in which they present recent developments in their subject, emphasising the aspects that, in their opinion, are most important. In addition, they provide short annotations to the papers that they consider to be most interesting from all those published in their topic over the previous year.

Editorial Overview
Section Editors write a short overview at the beginning of the section to introduce the reviews and to draw the reader's attention to any particularly interesting developments.

Ethics in Publishing: General Statement

The Editor(s) and Publisher of this Journal believe that there are fundamental principles underlying scholarly or professional publishing. While this may not amount to a formal 'code of conduct', these fundamental principles with respect to the authors' paper are that the paper should: i) be the authors' own original work, which has not been previously published elsewhere, ii) reflect the authors' own research and analysis and do so in a truthful and complete manner, iii) properly credit the meaningful contributions of co-authors and co-researchers, iv) not be submitted to more than one journal for consideration, and v) be appropriately placed in the context of prior and existing research. Of equal importance are ethical guidelines dealing with research methods and research funding, including issues dealing with informed consent, research subject privacy rights, conflicts of interest, and sources of funding. While it may not be possible to draft a 'code' that applies adequately to all instances and circumstances, we believe it useful to outline our expectations of authors and procedures that the Journal will employ in the event of questions concerning author conduct. With respect to conflicts of interest, the Publisher now requires authors to declare any conflicts of interest that relate to papers accepted for publication in this Journal. A conflict of interest may exist when an author or the author's institution has a financial or other relationship with other people or organizations that may inappropriately influence the author's work. A conflict can be actual or potential and full disclosure to the Journal is the safest course. All submissions to the Journal must include disclosure of all relationships that could be viewed as presenting a potential conflict of interest. The Journal may use such information as a basis for editorial decisions and may publish such disclosures if they are believed to be important to readers in judging the manuscript. A decision may be made by the Journal not to publish on the basis of the declared conflict.

For more information, please refer to: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/authorshome.authors/conflictsofinterest

Best Cited over the last year.

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NMDA receptor subunits: function and pharmacology

N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) are glutamate-gated ion channels widely expressed in the central nervous system that play key roles in excitatory synaptic transmission. Because of their involvement in numerous neurological disorders, NMDARs are also targets of therapeutic interest. NMDARs occur as multiple subtypes which differ in their subunit composition and in their biophysical and pharmacological properties. In particular, NMDARs contain a diversity of sites at which endogenous…

Volume 7, Issue 1, 01 February 2007, Pp 39-47
Paoletti, P. | Neyton, J.

Role of neurotrophic factors in depression

Major depression is associated with reduced volumes in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, whereas antidepressant treatments promote several forms of neuronal plasticity, including neurogenesis, synaptogenesis and neuronal maturation, in the hippocampus. Several neurotrophic factors are associated with depression or antidepressant action. Stress suppresses brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) synthesis in the hippocampus, at least partially through a sustained modification of chromatin…

Volume 7, Issue 1, 01 February 2007, Pp 18-21
Castrén, E. | Võikar, V. | Rantamäki, T.

Targeting the PI3K-AKT-mTOR pathway: progress, pitfalls, and promises

The strategy of 'drugging the cancer kinome' has led to the successful development and regulatory approval of several novel molecular targeted agents. The spotlight is now shifting to the phosphatidylinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)-AKT-mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway as a key potential target. This review details the role of the pathway in oncogenesis and the rationale for inhibiting its vital components. The focus will be on the progress made in the development of novel therapies for…

Volume 8, Issue 4, 01 August 2008, Pp 393-412
Yap, T.A. | Garrett, M.D. | Walton, M.I. | Raynaud, F. | de Bono, J.S. | Workman, P.

Reward system and addiction: what dopamine does and doesn't do

Addictive drugs share with palatable food the property of increasing extracellular dopamine (DA), preferentially in the nucleus accumbens shell rather than in the core. However, by acting directly on the brain, drugs bypass the adaptive mechanisms (habituation) that constrain the responsiveness of accumbens shell DA to food reward, abnormally facilitating Pavlovian incentive learning and promoting the acquisition of abnormal DA-releasing properties by drug conditioned stimuli. Thus, whereas…

Volume 7, Issue 1, 01 February 2007, Pp 69-76
Di Chiara, G. | Bassareo, V.

Mechanisms of reversible protein glutathionylation in redox signaling and oxidative stress

Reversible protein S-glutathionylation (protein-SSG) is an important post-translational modification, providing protection of protein cysteines from irreversible oxidation and serving to transduce redox signals. Analogous to phosphatases, glutaredoxin (GRx) enzymes catalyze deglutathionylation of proteins, regulating diverse intracellular signaling pathways. Recently, other enzymes have been reported to exhibit deglutathionylating activity, but their contribution to intracellular protein…

Volume 7, Issue 4, 01 August 2007, Pp 381-391
Gallogly, M.M. | Mieyal, J.J.

Targeting Hsp90: small-molecule inhibitors and their clinical development

The Hsp90 multichaperone complex has important roles in the development and progression of malignant transformation. Several small-molecule inhibitors of Hsp90 of diverse chemotypes have shown potent antitumor activity in a wide-range of malignancies, and are currently in clinical or late-stage preclinical investigation. This review intends to update the reader on advances made over the past two years in the clinical development of Hsp90 inhibitors in advanced cancers. It will refer to the two…

Volume 8, Issue 4, 01 August 2008, Pp 370-374
Taldone, T. | Gozman, A. | Maharaj, R. | Chiosis, G.

Epigenetic targets of HDAC inhibition in neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders

Epigenetic chromatin remodeling and modifications of DNA represent central mechanisms for regulation of gene expression during brain development and in memory formation. Emerging evidence implicates epigenetic modifications in disorders of synaptic plasticity and cognition. This review focuses on recent findings that HDAC inhibitors can ameliorate deficits in synaptic plasticity, cognition, and stress-related behaviors in a wide range of neurologic and psychiatric disorders including…

Volume 8, Issue 1, 01 February 2008, Pp 57-64
Abel, T. | Zukin, R.S.

Targeting the androgen receptor pathway in prostate cancer

When prostate cancers progress following androgen depletion therapy, there are currently few treatment options with only one, docetaxel, that has been shown to prolong life. Recent work has shown that castration-resistant prostate cancers (CRPCs) continue to depend on androgen receptor (AR) signaling which is reactivated despite low serum androgen levels. Currently available AR-targeted therapy, including GnRH agonists and antiandrogens, cannot completely shut down AR signaling. Several…

Volume 8, Issue 4, 01 August 2008, Pp 440-448
Chen, Y. | Sawyers, C.L. | Scher, H.I.

ERK2: a logical AND gate critical for drug-induced plasticity?

Drug addiction results in part from the distortion of dopamine-controlled plasticity, and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) plays an important role in the underlying molecular mechanisms of this process. ERK is activated by drugs of abuse in a subset of neurons in reward-related brain regions. This activation, necessary for the expression of immediate early genes, depends upon dopamine D1 and glutamate receptors. Blockade of ERK activation prevents long-lasting behavioral changes,…

Volume 7, Issue 1, 01 February 2007, Pp 77-85
Girault, J.-A. | Valjent, E. | Caboche, J. | Hervé, D.

N-Acetylcysteine-a safe antidote for cysteine/glutathione deficiency

Glutathione (GSH) deficiency is associated with numerous pathological conditions. Administration of N-acetylcysteine (NAC), a cysteine prodrug, replenishes intracellular GSH levels. NAC, best known for its ability to counter acetaminophen toxicity, is a safe, well-tolerated antidote for cysteine/GSH deficiency. NAC has been used successfully to treat GSH deficiency in a wide range of infections, genetic defects and metabolic disorders, including HIV infection and COPD. Over two-thirds of 46…

Volume 7, Issue 4, 01 August 2007, Pp 355-359
Atkuri, K.R. | Mantovani, J.J. | Herzenberg, L.A. | Herzenberg, L.A.

Targeted therapy for cancer using PARP inhibitors

Poly (ADP-ribose) Polymerase (PARP) has a well-established role in DNA repair processes, and small molecule inhibitors of PARP have been developed as chemotherapy sensitisers for the treatment of cancer. The subsequent demonstration that PARP inhibition is selective for BRCA1 or BRCA2 deficiency suggests that PARP inhibitors may be particularly useful for the treatment of cancer with BRCA mutations. This would represent one of the first clinically implemented examples of a synthetic lethal…

Volume 8, Issue 4, 01 August 2008, Pp 363-369
Lord, C.J. | Ashworth, A.

NMDA receptors and schizophrenia

The pathophysiology of schizophrenia is poorly understood but is likely to involve alterations in excitatory glutamatergic signaling molecules in several areas of the brain. Clinical and experimental evidence has shown that expression of the N-methyl-d-asparate (NMDA) receptor and intracellular NMDA receptor-interacting proteins of the glutaminergic synapse appear to be dysregulated in schizophrenia. It has been suggested that schizophrenia involves molecular changes in the glutamatergic…

Volume 7, Issue 1, 01 February 2007, Pp 48-55
Kristiansen, L.V. | Huerta, I. | Beneyto, M. | Meador-Woodruff, J.H.

Thioredoxin signaling as a target for cancer therapy

Thioredoxin (Trx) family members play critical roles in the regulation of cellular redox homeostasis. Cancer cells exist in a stressed environment and rely on the Trxs for protection against stress-disregulated redox signaling. The most extensively studied member of the family is Trx-1 whose levels are increased in many human cancers most likely in direct response to stress. Trx-1 contributes to many of the hallmarks of cancer including increased proliferation, resistance to cell death and…

Volume 7, Issue 4, 01 August 2007, Pp 392-397
Powis, G. | Kirkpatrick, D.L.

Dissecting components of reward: 'liking', 'wanting', and learning

In recent years significant progress has been made delineating the psychological components of reward and their underlying neural mechanisms. Here we briefly highlight findings on three dissociable psychological components of reward: 'liking' (hedonic impact), 'wanting' (incentive salience), and learning (predictive associations and cognitions). A better understanding of the components of reward, and their neurobiological substrates, may help in devising improved treatments for disorders of…

Volume 9, Issue 1, 01 February 2009, Pp 65-73
Berridge, K.C. | Robinson, T.E. | Aldridge, J.W.

Prostaglandins and adenosine in the regulation of sleep and wakefulness

Prostaglandin (PG) D2 and adenosine are potent humoral sleep-inducing factors that accumulate in the brain during prolonged wakefulness. PGD2 is produced in the brain by lipocalin-type PGD synthase, which is localized mainly in the leptomeninges, choroid plexus and oligodendrocytes, and circulates in the cerebrospinal fluid as a sleep hormone. It stimulates DP1 receptors on leptomeningeal cells of the basal forebrain to release adenosine as a paracrine signaling molecule to promote sleep.…

Volume 7, Issue 1, 01 February 2007, Pp 33-38
Huang, Z.-L. | Urade, Y. | Hayaishi, O.

Natural products as a gold mine for arthritis treatment

Arthritis, an inflammation of the joints, is usually a chronic disease that results from dysregulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines (e.g. tumour necrosis factor and interleukin-1β) and pro-inflammatory enzymes that mediate the production of prostaglandins (e.g. cyclooxygenase-2) and leukotrienes (e.g. lipooxygenase), together with the expression of adhesion molecules and matrix metalloproteinases, and hyperproliferation of synovial fibroblasts. All of these factors are regulated by the…

Volume 7, Issue 3, 01 June 2007, Pp 344-351
Khanna, D. | Sethi, G. | Ahn, K.S. | Pandey, M.K. | Kunnumakkara, A.B. | Sung, B. | Aggarwal, A. | Aggarwal, B.B.

Novel trends in high-throughput screening

High-throughput screening (HTS) is a well-established process for lead discovery in Pharma and Biotech companies and is now also being used for basic and applied research in academia. It comprises the screening of large chemical libraries for activity against biological targets via the use of automation, miniaturized assays and large-scale data analysis. Since its first advent in the early to mid 1990s, the field of HTS has seen not only a continuous change in technology and processes, but also…

Volume 9, Issue 5, 01 October 2009, Pp 580-588
Mayr, L.M. | Bojanic, D.

Recent progress in the development of selected hepatitis C virus NS3·4A protease and NS5B polymerase inhibitors

Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a pressing medical problem worldwide. Current therapy with pegylated interferon plus ribavirin (Peg-IFN/RBV) is associated with a poor risk benefit profile, a long treatment duration (48 weeks) and inadequate success rate (∼40-50%) of SVR (sustained viral response) in patients infected with genotype 1 HCV. This review is focused on recent clinical trial results with specifically targeted antiviral therapy for HCV (STAT-C) protease and polymerase…

Volume 8, Issue 5, 01 October 2008, Pp 522-531
Kwong, A.D. | McNair, L. | Jacobson, I. | George, S.

Adenosine as a neuromodulator in neurological diseases

Adenosine is a modulator of brain function uniquely positioned to integrate excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmission. The past few years brought a wealth of new data fostering our understanding of how the adenosine system is involved in the pathogenesis of neurological diseases. Thus, dysregulation of the adenosine system is implicated in epileptogenesis and cell therapies have been developed to locally augment adenosine in an approach to prevent seizures. While activation of inhibitory…

Volume 8, Issue 1, 01 February 2008, Pp 2-7
Boison, D.

Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) and its receptors

Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA), a bioactive phospholipid, and its family of cognate G protein-coupled receptors have demonstrated roles in many biological functions in the nervous system. To date, five LPA receptors have been identified, and additional receptors may exist. Most of these receptors have been genetically deleted in mice toward identifying biological and medically relevant roles. In addition, small molecule agonists and antagonists have been reported. Here we review recent data on the…

Volume 9, Issue 1, 01 February 2009, Pp 15-23
Noguchi, K. | Herr, D. | Mutoh, T. | Chun, J.

Inflammation and cancer: how friendly is the relationship for cancer patients?

Evidence has emerged in the last two decades that at the molecular level most chronic diseases, including cancer, are caused by a dysregulated inflammatory response. The identification of transcription factors such as NF-κB, AP-1 and STAT3 and their gene products such as tumor necrosis factor, interleukin-1, interleukin-6, chemokines, cyclooxygenase-2, 5 lipooxygenase, matrix metalloproteases, and vascular endothelial growth factor, adhesion molecules and others have provided the molecular…

Volume 9, Issue 4, 01 August 2009, Pp 351-369
Aggarwal, B.B. | Gehlot, P.

The continuing challenge of ESBLs

Since their first description more than 20 years ago, Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae possessing extended-spectrum class A beta-lactamases (ESBLs) continue to thwart our best clinical efforts. In the 'early years' the most common beta-lactamases were of the TEM and SHV varieties. Now, CTX-M enzymes are being discovered throughout the world and are becoming the most prevalent beta-lactamases found in clinical isolates. The K. pneumoniae carbapenemases (KPC) (ESBL-type enzymes that…

Volume 7, Issue 5, 01 October 2007, Pp 459-469
Perez, F. | Endimiani, A. | Hujer, K.M. | Bonomo, R.A.

Genetic polymorphism and function of glutathione S-transferases in tumor drug resistance

The human glutathione S-transferase, GSTs, possess both enzymatic and non-enzymatic functions and are involved in many important cellular processes, such as, phase II metabolism, stress response, cell proliferation, apoptosis, oncogenesis, tumor progression and drug resistance. The non-enzymatic functions of GSTs involve their interactions with cellular proteins, such as, JNK, TRAF, ASK, PKC, and TGM2, during which, either the interacting protein partner undergoes functional alteration or the…

Volume 7, Issue 4, 01 August 2007, Pp 367-374
Lo, H.-W. | Ali-Osman, F.

Taste receptor signaling in the mammalian gut

Molecular sensing by gastrointestinal (GI) cells plays a crucial role in the control of multiple fundamental functions including digestion, regulation of caloric intake, pancreatic insulin secretion, and metabolism, as well as protection from ingested harmful drugs and toxins. These processes are likely to be mediated by the initiation of humoral and/or neural pathways through the activation of endocrine cells. However, the initial recognition events and mechanism(s) involved are still largely…

Volume 7, Issue 6, 01 December 2007, Pp 557-562
Rozengurt, E. | Sternini, C.

Acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs) as pharmacological targets for neurodegenerative diseases

A significant drop of tissue pH or acidosis is a common feature of acute neurological conditions such as ischemic stroke, brain trauma, and epileptic seizures. Acid-sensing ion channels, or ASICs, are proton-gated cation channels widely expressed in peripheral sensory neurons and in the neurons of the central nervous system. Recent studies have demonstrated that activation of these channels by protons plays an important role in a variety of physiological and pathological processes such as…

Volume 8, Issue 1, 01 February 2008, Pp 25-32
Xiong, Z.-G. | Pignataro, G. | Li, M. | Chang, S.-y. | Simon, R.P.